


Some Motivation

by radishleaf



Series: Petal Scatter - Saika Oneshots [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 13:39:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16285616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radishleaf/pseuds/radishleaf
Summary: Laela attempts to motivate Saika to control her strength.





	Some Motivation

**Author's Note:**

> fufufu, this is a the first of a number of written pieces that i wanted to be birfday gifts to myself. initially, this was going to go into the mature/explicit range, but i lost motivation. kinda ironic, huh? instead, i kept it sort of tame. also doubled as practice for writing fighting scenes, which i totally still need to work on. 
> 
> laela still doesn't have any visual reference yet (which i should totally work on getting sometime), but here's [saika](https://toyhou.se/950576.saika) if it helps with your ~:*imagination*:~
> 
> as always, this was self-beta'd, so kindly ignore any grammatical errors should you come across any upon reading. i tried to be thorough. enjooooy.
> 
> for links to my tumblr, twitter, and other exterior sources for contact or requests, please refer to here: [plonk](https://radishleaf.carrd.co/).

The early morning brought with it rain; a thick swath of clouds and hazy mist settling over the horizon and sunrise beyond. The crumbled foundation of a centuries’ old temple served to be their settling place for the night into day. Most of the Band of Many scattered to the nearby forest for shelter and sleep instead of the temple itself; to rest out in the open was akin to suicide that heavy into the countryside, what with bandits as plentiful as biting insects. Only those—like Saika—who could fend for themselves would make the night. So, the oni foot the roll of keeping watch until morning came.

However, even this proved a difficult venture; keeping eyes to the surrounding area was as dull as watching paint dry, so Saika opted for something better: training. Muscle training was her go-to option with her waned strength, but with her shackles gratefully removed, her training was now the opposite. Saika was learning how to _hold back_ —each pummel she gave to the nearby downed wall leaving deep craters in the stone.

After her umpteenth punch, Saika thinned lips at her balled fist. “Shit, this is gonna be harder than I thought,” she muttered to herself.

“Huh. What are you up to so early in the morning?”

Saika jerked her head about and cast eyes to the familiar voice behind her. Laela leaned against one of the only remaining pillars of the temple, her brows rose quizzically. “Taking your anger out on the wall there?” she asked, cocking her chin at it. “Night watch can’t be _that_ boring.”

Saika gave a toothy grin. “To be honest, yea, it kinda is,” Saika said. “But I ain’t venting my frustrations, I was training.” Laela tilted her head the other way questioningly. “I’m not used to, y’know, no shackles and all. These”—she motioned to the multiple areas of impact dotted along the wall—“are only a quarter of my strength. If I wanted, I could crush this thing with a single punch. I’m holding back, trying to get used to everything, but it’s harder than I thought.”

“Mm.” Laela pushed herself up from the pillar and approached the oni. She touched the center of one of the craters, studying it intently, before casting eyes to Saika. “These are what you’d leave before—when your strength was restrained. Didn’t you say that was only a quarter of what you can do?”

“Something like that,” Saika said. “A better way of putting it is I could pick up a glass without crushing it in my grip. Can’t even hold a pair of chopsticks now without them snapping like twigs, though.”

Laela gave a small huff of laughter. “So, punching things are going to make things easier?”

“I don’t see you offering any ideas,” Saika replied. “Is that why you’re up so early? To remind me of my lame ones?”

“Hmm, no?” Laela hummed. “I think you can do that for yourself just fine.”

Saika rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Laela. It’s early. Go back to sleep; we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Laela thinned her lips. “Don’t want to,” she said, knotting arms across her chest. “I can’t sleep anymore, your dad’s snoring up a storm.” Saika threw her head back and laughed. “It’s not funny.”

The oni settled herself with a deep sigh. “Sorry, sorry. His snoring is hell, I know.”

“So, back to your strength problem. Still haven’t found a solution yet?”

Saika shook her head, flexing her fingers. “No. I _keep_ holding back, but it doesn’t feel like it’s enough.”

“Only on things, right? What about people?”

The oni narrowed eyes at the blonde. “What are you saying? That I should hit someone to learn how to hold back?”

Laela gave a one shoulder shrug. “Well, yes,” she replied, earning a frown from Saika. “Hear me out, Sai. There’s no concern with things; you technically can’t hurt them. A person, though? If you fear hurting them, maybe then you can work with your problem.”

Saika shook her head at Laela’s insinuation. “In other words,” Saika said, “you want me to punch _you_.”

Laela smiled brightly. “Precisely,” she said.

“No.” Saika’s tone held a definitive edge to it. “Of all people, I ain’t gonna be punching you, Laela.”

The blonde rolled her eyes this time. “Then who else would you punch? Hiro?”

“Would be kinda useless since we’re both oni.”

“Manabu?”

“Would _really_ love to, but the guy’s dedicated to the cause. As with the others in the Band of Many.”

“Then aren’t I your best option?” Laela said. “I wouldn’t mind if you hurt me, since I know you wouldn’t mean it. Just think of it as training or a spar. A game even.” She winked. “If you win, I’ll give you a reward.”

Even the promise of something couldn’t convince Saika to give in. “You’re kinda adamant about this, huh?” she asked.

“Only because I hate seeing you so frustrated,” Laela said, striding to her side and clasping one of Saika’s hands between her own. “It’s been months and you haven’t made any progress yet. If I can, in some way, help you in finding your middle ground, I want to. I want to help.”

The oni smoothed a thumb across Laela’s knuckles. “You’re not allowed to be so sweet, remember?” Saika muttered. “But I meant what I said, I’m not gonna hit you.”

“You always have to make things difficult,” Laela said.

Saika retort was immediately silenced when Laela’s hold on her hand tightened. Suddenly, the world shifted in on itself and gravity became a faraway notion as the blonde flipped Saika over her shoulder. The oni’s audible crack to the stone beneath drew a pained grunt out of her; dirt from the impact dusting a cloud across the temple floor. It took a beat for Saika to collect her bearings, but when she did, she glared up at Laela smiling placidly down at her.

“Seriously, Laela?” Saika huffed as she pushed herself up to sitting. “You had to go do something like _that_?”

Laela’s smile widened. “Well, I needed a reason to get you to do _something_.”

“I still ain’t gonna hit you.”

“Then let me kindly motivate you.”

Laela’s foot came in a swift arc toward Saika’s head. The oni barely barreled out of the way, scooting back a few paces as Laela came at her again with another kick. Her glare deepened as she tried both to curse and shoot a warning at the blonde, but Saika’s words were cut short as Laela opted for a punch that only caught open air.

“A-are you kidding me?” Saika growled as she righted herself to standing. “You’re clear about this?”

“Crystal,” Laela said. “I won’t stop until you hit me.”

“Laela, I ain’t—”

“I know.” Laela flexed her wrist. “That’s why I’m going to keep coming at you until you _do._ ”

Laela closed the distance between her and Saika this time by aiming her fist at her chin, but Saika had the wherewithal to catch her wrist before contact was made. She jerked Laela forward with a simple flick of her wrist, and she followed by a ragdoll. It was Laela who lost her footing this time; Saika kicked her stance out from under her and let her tumble to the stone, Laela’s wrist still held tightly in her own. Air left her with a moan of pain, and Saika winced a little.

_Maybe I did that too hard…_

Any concern Saika held for Laela dissipated when the blonde dissolved into laughter. “Now you’re taking this seriously?” she asked.

The light to Laela’s eyes made Saika’s lower stomach sink. “S’not like that,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Shame, really,” Laela said, wrapping her fingers around Saika’s hand and jerking her violently down. “Because I was just getting started.”

The two scuffled for most of the morning; the clouds along the horizon parting to finally bring light to the day. Warmth bathed the temple floor as Saika and Laela stood apart from each other, panting heavily as sweat beaded and streamed down their foreheads and necks.

“I told you, I ain’t gonna hit you,” Saika said for the umpteenth time, drawing in a deep breath.

“Apparently,” Laela replied. “You haven’t hit me once.”

Laela swallowed and wiped sweat from her chin, which certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Saika. _Crap,_ she thought. The oni swallowed thickly and tried in vain to not think of _other things_ , even though it was obvious from the heat to her cheeks. _This is dangerous._ Laela licked the salt from her lip and Saika felt her thoughts stymie. _Too dangerous_.

Before her mind became stuffed with thoughts like cotton, Laela came at her again; this time with another punch. Instead of catching her wrist and dropping her again, Saika grabbed her and pulled Laela to her. Laela hooted in surprise before she collapsed against the oni’s chest, bewildered. The toothy grin Saika beamed down at her only confounded Laela more.

“H-hey,” Laela stuttered. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to—”

“I’d rather stay like this for a while,” Saika said, clutching Laela’s chin between forefinger and thumb and inching her face closer to hers. “I think this is better than fighting.”

“S-Sai—”

Laela’s words were swallowed by the tender kiss; her mind blanking completely. The blonde pushed herself up into the soft warmth, her chin sliding against Saika’s sweat-slicked chin. Hands roamed the moist contours of wiry muscle of the oni’s arms, and a flash of desire rose up within her. Laela wanted nothing more than to push Saika up against the nearby wall, to carry this moment where it would’ve naturally went had they continued, but Saika broke away before something in her insisted it.

The haze fogged across Laela’s sensibilities didn’t clear even as Saika directed her attention away from her and to the forest beyond. It was the dissatisfied frown that curved on Saika’s lips that drew Laela’s attention completely to her.

“Dad’s calling for us,” Saika said as she jerked her chin to the waving figure in the distance. “Seems we’re getting ready to go.”

Laela frowned. “Shit,” she cursed. “Of all times…”

Saika snickered. “We can continue later on tonight,” she said, pressing a peck to Laela’s temple. “You can wait until then, right?”

She sighed. “Maybe,” Laela replied, “but if I get a chance earlier, I won’t stop.”


End file.
